ok guys so i've been at this for a few hours, and i can't get this dang radiator out. The huge power steering cooler won't budge bc the ac lines are welded or really stuck to them. I almost have it out, but now it seems the ac clutch thing is just in the way enough to catch the bottom lip of the radiator. Any thoughts? I've never had so much trouble with a radiator swap

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Hate to say it, but, remove the fan and clutch first. That would have given you plenty of room.

 

Indeed, I like to put an Allen wrench in a hole in the water pump pulley to jamb the pulley while I use my bigass channel locks. A proper sized wrench or spanner would be best though.

 

Removing the four bolts that hold the upper cross member in place and rolling that forward should also get you the clearance you need. Without having to remove the fan.

 

you guys are probably going to hate me for this, but i ended up finding some jb weld in my tool box and gave it a go. The leak was from a small hole literally smaller than an ant right in front of the clutch. I figured id swap out rads to be easy, but i never can do things right it seems lol. So i gave up on that and let the jb weld settle overnight and tested it, ran it for 20 mins and no problems. Ya this isn't permanent but will at least get me to work now. That stuff is liquid steel and has held up on many other occasions, only concern for me is the heat, so let me know what i should do --besides still change the radiator. Thanks

 

You got all the advice you need. You're going to have to get that fan and fan clutch out to get enough clearance to get the radiator out. You can cut the bottom of the shroud to get it out of the way, btw.

I feel your pain, btw. When I did my water pump I cut my hands up big time. I have a welder and managed to weld up a spanner out of 3/4 inch angle iron and a couple of bolts. Fan clutch and fan, shroud too, are long gone. I converted the 96 to electric fans.

Sometimes, tho, you get lucky and JB Weld works. I used to fix motorcycle gas tanks with the stuff--it will stick when nothing else will.

 

When I did my efan, I was dreading having to remove the fan. I figured it would be seized on there big time. All it took was an open end wrench on the flats, holding the fan by hand and whacking the wrench one time with a dead blow hammer. Came right off. Took literally 5 minutes. I got lucky I guess.

 

I've removed mine a few times, all have been really easy. The trick is getting the water pump pulley to stay put.. A couple times I didn't even need to secure it, it was on just enough that the belt held it down. What size is that but again? I've been using channel locks, so I never checked.

 

well i put it through a few hours of driving at least, was able to drive to work and back. No troubles, how is it i remove the clutch btw, i took the 4 bolts out last time i tried and the fan moved but clutch did not, i can't see in front of it to see if there is another bolt..

-as of now i will run with what i have, least i know how to get to it and what i need to do if i need to change it.

thanks a lot guys